Thread by @theoneringnet

NEWS FROM BREE: Amazon’s @LOTRonPrime series began its online marketing in GRAND GEEK STYLE with Fantasy lover’s favorite trope: a MAP of Middle-earth with details trickling in daily. LET’S EXPLORE THIS 🗺

“I’m acquiver with anticipation!”
- Bilbo

A THREAD by @Quickbeam2000
/1

The silence from Amazon had been deafening for many long, dry months...

Since their first slam-bang press release we haven’t heard any news, nor casting announcements, nor anything beyond the reveal of the two young writers newly assigned.

THEN THIS!
amazon.com/adlp/lotronpri…
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It is a rather shrewd piece of early marketing.

Though at first listing NO place names or demarcations, it is meant to be PURE ENTICEMENT. A blank map of such a familiar landscape has a visceral effect of “inviting us in” and lets our imagination start galloping wildly ahead. /3

“What do you still want of me?” says the blank map to us, subliminally...

“Where do you want to go in this glorious open space where you have not already been? Do you know the paths and dangers ahead?”

The effect is transportive, as we fill in all the blanks with our minds.
/4

After the first swoon, we start questioning it.

That’s what #Ringers do, naturally, always looking for verisimilitude and the limits of integrity. We don’t like it when someone plays fast and loose with #Tolkien.

Let’s talk about those extended areas of #Rhûn to the EAST!
/5

The first note of concern came from people seeing a mountain range to the east of the Sea of #Rhûn - these are the Orocarni (“Red Mountains”) and #Tolkien mentions them in The #Silmarilion on page 49.

They don’t appear on maps relevant to the Third Age, but THEY’RE REAL.
/6

Two huge things to note:

A) The assumption (which could be WAY wrong) is that we are being previewed areas that will be relevant to the narrative of the show, á la #GoT opening title. 🤔

B) The daily trickle of info includes the #RingVerse, which may also supply clues. 🤔

/7

As of today Feb. 18, 2019, quite a few REGIONS appeared on the map including #Lindon, the last surviving strip of #Beleriand after the #WarofWrath; and the remarkable instance of PRE-Rohan, the area of Northern #Gondor called #Calenardhon, begging some to say “SECOND AGE MAP!”
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But wait! We know that in Third Age 2510 Eorl the Young assisted the Steward of Gondor in the Battle of #Celebrant against the Easterlings known as the #Balchoth - shattering the enemy’s numbers. Eorl was gifted the lands for his people, making the #OathofEorl (see #RedArrow).
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It’s tantalizing to see these place-names, but given the scarcity of information we can’t reconcile this easily.

- Are we indeed looking at the Second Age?
- If so, does that mean the Amazon series will start CENTURIES before the #YoungAragorn tale?

#MathIsHardForMe
/10

I believe that it’s a Third Age map, but I may be wrong.

If it’s a Second Age map however, that steers us towards the strong possibility that this series MIGHT begin with a telling of the FORGING OF THE RINGS OF POWER - with #Sauron disguised as #Annatar and all that.

/11

If these daily mentions of the #RingVerse continue through the entire poem, we shall see more items appear on the Map to deepen / solve these mysteries in the coming days!

But we know for sure the team at @LOTRonPrime are consulting Fonstad’s “Atlas” and Tolkien’s “Letters.”
/12

Speaking of which: there’s the granular issue of the Compass Rose with its incorrect runes. Seems there was some confusion on the part of Karen Wynn Fonstad (“Atlas of Middle-earth”) between Cirth and Tengwar letters - and members of our community have sussed it out!

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Kudos to our friends Shaun, Marcel, and Jeremy for tracking down the mistake in those runes and figuring out how an updated edition of #Tolkien makes all the difference!

https://twitter.com/shaungunner/status/1096476815068200963?s=21

@ShaunGunner @The_Tolkienist @TolkienGuide
/14

I consider this possibility: maybe this playful little interactive map is not meant to determine the series’ actual setting of Season One, Episode One.

What if it’s all preliminary info to prep the audience on a “Prologue of Events” before the story starts proper? 💥🤯

/15

This map COULD be all groundwork.

Peter Jackson put the history of the Ring in one 8-minute opening scene. Is Amazon doing their Prologue via social media?!

Maybe their actual film content has restrictions and can be ONLY Appendices based.

Hmmmm... 🤔
/16

To settle the account:

- The Map is teasing our imagination yet we don’t know its exact significance quite yet

- The team at Amazon is being very careful and thoughtful about using proper sources (outdated or not)

- This is all very clever.
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These are my sources used for this. Some outdated, yes, but mostly assured; and also I reckon #Tolkien’s original maps and notes.

Come join us on our weekly livestream show TORn Tuesday at 5pm Pacific for a deep dive and discuss it all!

Namárië,
Clifford
@Quickbeam2000
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